1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a support beam for a long functional unit, and, more particularly as used in a paper and/or coating machine, having a long hollow body with a round or polygonal cross section and manufactured from a fiber reinforced material which was produced in a winding process.
2. Description of the related art
Generic support beams are already known and serve to locate and support, for example, doctor blades which are used in paper machines to keep dryer cylinder shell surfaces clean, or to remove the paper or cardboard web from the shell surface.
A support beam of this type is described in DE 41 41 133. The support beam has a fiber-reinforced material and is manufactured in the embodiment of a long hollow body, having essentially a polygonal cross section.
Support beams of this type for coating units are known from DE 196 49 559.8 or DE 297 01 176.6.
A support having fiber reinforced material CFK (carbon fiber reinforced laminate) is also cited in DE 197 13 195. This support includes a bundle of tubular support elements, whereby the individual tubes are manufactured in a winding process by utilizing heat and pressure. It is also disclosed that appropriate selection of the main fiber orientation, which should preferably progress approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of profile element, minimizes heat expansion in the longitudinal direction and, therefore, deflection.
In the field, however, these support beams were not totally satisfactory. Particularly with the current demand for machine widths in paper and coating machinery of 8 meters or wider, the support beams are susceptible to vibration. This results in a less than perfect operation across the entire width of the functional elements that are mounted on the support beams, such as doctor blades or coating devices. What is needed in the art is a support beam that is deflection resistant and that has minimal susceptibility to vibration.
The present invention improves this type of support beam so that it is not only deflection resistant, but also substantially vibration free.
The present invention provides, by increasing the natural frequency and by aligning a certain part of the reinforcing fibers longitudinally and by aligning another part of the reinforcing fibers in circumferential direction, reduction in the vibration susceptibility by a surprisingly large amount.
The support beam according to the present invention can be utilized particularly advantageously in coating equipment, that is coaters and film presses. Specifically in units, which are marketed by the assignee under the names SpeedCoater(trademark), SpeedSizer(trademark) or SpeedFlow(trademark), substantially vibration free support beams have a positive effect on the coating results on a material web.